Say hello to the new Heated Rivalry hotties; The Retrievals podcast is being adapted into a new drama series for Netflix; Troye Sivan’s new single “She’s The Best” has a Charli XCX cameo; and Camila Cabello’s C,XOXO has seen a 475% rise in streams on Spotify after The Fader published an impassioned op-ed about how underrated it is (idk about you but “I LUV IT” has been on repeat for me for two years straight).
’CALL HER DADDY’ HOST ALEX COOPER’S UNWELL BEVERAGE BUSINESS IS SHUTTING DOWN, bloomberg
It’s been a big week for Alex Cooper — her company announced a new round from Hollywood superagent Patrick Whitesell valuing the business at $500 million — but not everything’s going to plan for the generation’s preeminent girlboss. Unwell Hydration, Alex’s functional wellness drink brand that was once described as tasting “like you went to the beach and drank some ocean water,” will soon be no more. Tough week for that to get out! In addition to the fundraise announcement and ensuing press cycle, Unwell is currently hosting a group of content creators in New York City for an influencer trip in partnership with Google Gemini. (I’ve been closely monitoring to see if it’ll get similar anti-tech backlash to the AI influencer trip a few weeks ago, but so far, I’ve seen only enthusiasm!) On Wednesday, the companies hosted a welcome party where they served Unwell Hydration mixed with Malibu Rum, a combination so vile one girl said she took one sip and “literally almost yakked.”
WE ASKED 15 TEENS FOR THEIR BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOPPING LISTS. THEY WANTED AIRPODS, CUTE NOTEBOOKS AND A WHOLE NEW PERSONALITY., yahoo
According to high schoolers surveyed by Yahoo, back-to-school season is an opportunity for a “rebrand,” with many teens “curating” their shopping lists to project specific aesthetics, such as “Stockholm-inspired,” “clean girl,” or “whimsical.” AirPods topped the list across age, state and gender (“AirPods would be fantasticcccccccc but i dont have $200 for AirPod Pro 3s 😔,” said 15-year-old Mari), alongside black JanSport backpacks, Brandy Melville, Aritzia, Lululemon and CeraVe. Alo is “overtaking Lululemon,” one mom noted, and Coach bags are “on the rise.” Analog supplies are (unsurprisingly) back — matching notebooks, fountain pens, Pilot G2s — with one 16-year-old saying it makes her “feel like Rory Gilmore.” Stanleys are officially “cheugy,” but the Owala FreeSip is still socially acceptable. All but one of the surveyed 13-to-18-year-olds say they preferred blending in versus standing out, a sentiment that came up in my back-to-school shoe research, too.
FAMILIES FEEL THE PINCH OF HIGHER CHILDREN’S SHOE PRICES AS KIDS HEAD BACK TO SCHOOL, apnews
Speaking of, I talked to the Associated Press’s Anne D’Innocenzio about my very scientific back-to-school shoe analysis and how kids feel pressure to wear the right sneaker brands — even as prices for shoes rise at the fastest pace in 34 years outside the pandemic, eek! “I think shoes are just so immediately identifiable as like, ‘I’m in the crowd,’” is what I told her, especially since the matching sweatsets and baggy jeans they’re wearing could theoretically be from anywhere. Jonah Seidenberg, a 12-year-old who tracked down a $145 pair of Nike Minds, told her he’ll thrift Hollister and Polo Ralph Lauren to save for the right shoes. “You can wear any kind of clothing and it would be fine, as long as it’s the right size,” he said. But the wrong ones, he added, could lead to bullying.
THINK IT’S COOL TO WEAR FANCY SNEAKERS TO WORK? YOU MIGHT BE OLD., nytimes
Young workers are forgoing sneakers at the office in favor of loafers and derbies, reversing years of casual footwear that followed workers back to their 9-to-5s post-pandemic. Esquire called it the loafer’s “big generational shift,” reporting that younger consumers “were bypassing sneakers in growing numbers,” and The Times UK deemed 2026 “the year of the loafer.” According to men’s fashion writer Ben Kriz, “It’s the classic generational reaction: If your boss comes in wearing sneakers, the natural reaction is to do something different. It’s like what happened with jeans.” Heritage brands like Allen Edmonds report an uptick in younger customers seeking handmade leather styles, and sneaker brands are feeling it — Bank of America downgraded Adidas to “sell” in January, citing an industry slowdown.
WHY WATCHMAKERS SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO GEN Z, businessoffashion
Gen Z has developed an unexpected predilection for mechanical watches, driven by the same thing behind every other unexpected Gen Z predilection (flip phones, digital cameras, birdwatching): nostalgia. The generation’s share of requests on secondary marketplace Chrono24 has more than doubled since 2020 to 21.6% this year, with young buyers gravitating toward retro late-1970s through 1990s designs. Cartier sold 695,000 watches last year, up nearly 40% since 2019, boosted by what insiders call the “Chalamet effect.” (Timmy is famously a Tank enthusiast.) “You can’t afford property, you don’t need a car and you have a desk job so you can’t queue for sneakers,” said Austen Chu, 29, CEO of Hong Kong marketplace Wristcheck. Watches, he predicted, are “here to stay.”
One last thought:
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